To be Vastly Superior to the Existing Ten Thousand Ton Ships Berlin, Nov. 15.
The great improvements to be incorporated in the construction of Germany's new 10,000-ton cruiser, were described by General von Greener, the Minister of Defence, in the Reichstag to-day.
The cruiser, General von Greener declared, was one allowed under the Treaty of Versailles to be built. For high-speed and fighting cap-city, he said, it" would. be vastly superior to ' existing _10,000-ton cruisers, The firing radius of its, guns would exceed that of the heavy artillery of the old ships by twelve kilometres while they would be capable of firing three times the number of shots per minute. The security of the cruiser against sinking would be increased by a new Kind of armour and underwater protection. Weight would be saved by using, in the first place, light metal wherever possible; secondly, by an electrical method of welding; and, thirdly, modern motors, which would, be five-sixths the weight of the machines used in 19)
General vpn Groener's speech was. in reply to a Socialist suction for the cessation of construction on the ground of economy.
The Reichstag is likely to reject the motion although the Socialist Chancellor, Herr Mueller, vote for the decision of the Socialist Party.—Reuter.
Note: On August 10 the Cabinet decided to proceed with the construction of the new cruiser, which had shortly before been postponed by the Reichstag on the ground of economy, this objection being overruled by the assurance that the necessary first instalment of 10, 000,000 marks had been saved eleewhere—Reuter
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.